I will probably get tarred and feathered for this... :hammer2:
Q. I want to know what's the difference between a Big Name (Eliminator, Essex, Cobra etc) vs the Humble custom boat builders? By humble boat builders, I mean those who are known to have come from the big guys and branched out on their own.
Here's how this came up you may ask? Here goes
First timer shopping around for a custom boat. I started asking all the questions about which boat is best, how are they made, what materials are used, carpet and interior grades, what are the standard options, different trailers etc.
I am not looking for anything with a blower, souped up engine, and I don't need a 50 color gelcoat. I just want to nice clean performance boat with a nicely powered stock engine (350 mag, 6.2, 496 etc are all available stock from Merc) that performs well.
[U]These are the items I noted which makes up a boat and how I categorized my boat searching.
A. Engine: I am looking at a Merc 350 Mag MPI Bravo One.
The big guys said these come right from Merc, right off the crate and straight into the boat. I was told, if there's any problems with the engine, it's not the rigger, but an issue with the engine itself. Both offered the Extended warranty, which is actually sold direct from merc. So in this category, how do you get more bang for you buck from the big guys?
B. Hull Design: The boat I am looking at is a 23' boat, which I have determined came from an original Eliminator Mold.
If the hull was designed by Eliminator and good enough for Eliminator to sell, I would think it is a solid hull. Maybe there can be an issue with the construction and materials used?
C. Accessories, Bezels: I've gone to the big guys and taken pictures of the bezels, gages, cleats (popup and regular).
The big guys seem to get their parts from the usual places, like Eddie Marine, Dana Marine, etc. If the humble guy and the big guy both get their parts from the same place, am I simply paying a premium for the big name guy to install the parts?
D. Paint, Gelcoat: The humble guy got me a color chart, which was actually a brochure from ValSpar Gelcoats.
I went to the Valspar Gelcoat website and found that their clients include Eliminator and a few other big names. So, both the humble and big guy seem to use the same materials? Good materials are good materials right?
E. Through Bolted Construction and other items: The big guys were quick to point out that they use things like thru-bolt construction.
The humble guys offer the same thing. I couldn't find a difference between the big and humble guy in this departmen.
F. Interior: I have read in some ***boat and powerboat mags, that stratton marine did their interiors (Eliminator, Cobra).
This particular humble builder uses Stratton as well. Tripple stictched, with pipes and high grade foam as well. So what's the difference here?
G. Accessories, Bezels: I've gone to the big guys and taken pictures of the bezels, gages, cleats (popup and regular).
The big guys seem to get their parts from the usual places, like Eddie Marine, Dana Marine, etc. I went to all the big guys websites like Eliminator, Cobra, Essex, Lightning, Howard, Hallet etc etc and they all basically has the same options, except some were standard and some were extra's. I'm talking about things like Electric hatch, popup cleats, SS Parts, Anodized metals, dual batteries, battery switch, switch panels, shifters, grab handles, bimini tops, interior lighting etc, etc. If the humble guy and the big guy both get their parts from the same place, am I simply paying a premium for the big name guy to install the parts?
Conclusion Question: It seems to me the only things is the way this boat is put together, which makes me wonder, if I got a humble builder who's worked for places like Ultra, Cobra for 15+ years, the boat should be the same? Whay pay the extra $10-15k markup? What more do you get for the extra $10-15k, besides a Big Name?
After all this research, I started to ask myself... is it worth it to go with a Big Name vs the Humble builder? The humble guys boat is between $10-$15k cheaper and seems to be comparable to the Big Name boat.